Method and system for implementing and accessing a virtual table on data from a central server

Abstract

A method, mechanism, and computer program product for managing, referencing, and accessing centrally managed information are disclosed. Transparency is provided to the centrally managed data by introducing a mapping system between locally expected data and the central data repository. This allows, for example, local relational database systems to transparently access information from a central LDAP directory.

Description

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY[0001]Centralized data repositories are increasingly being used to store critical enterprise-wide meta-data, such as user information, services information, and organizational information. Such centralized data repositories provide many advantages over locally maintained repositories, allowing organizations to provide more efficient and secure methods to maintain the enterprise-wide meta-data.[0002]A common approach to implement the central data repository is to use the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (“LDAP”), which is a directory protocol that was originally developed as a front end to access directory systems organized under the X.500 standard for open electronic directories (which was originally promulgated by the Comite Consultatif International de telephone et Telegraphe “CCITT” in 1988). Standalone LDAP server implementations are now commonly available to store and maintain numerous types of system and enterprise meta-data. LDAP directory systems a...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0001]Centralized data repositories are increasingly being used to store critical enterprise-wide meta-data, such as user information, services information, and organizational information. Such centralized data repositories provide many advantages over locally maintained repositories, allowing organizations to provide more efficient and secure methods to maintain the enterprise-wide meta-data.

[0006]Embodiments of the present invention provide an improved method, mechanism, and system for referencing and accessing centrally managed information. According to some embodiments, the invention provides transparency to the centrally managed data by introducing a mapping system between locally expected data and the central data repository. This allows, for example, local relational database systems to transparently access information from a central LDAP directory. This combines the benefits of the direct API access with that of synchronization in one simple and easy to use interface for developers.

Problems solved by technology

A problem with this approach is that such synchronization requires manual activities at the deployment site and requires computational resources from the directory integration platform.

These problems may cause unacceptable levels of inefficiencies to perform the process of synchronizing the system metadata.

The problem with this approach is that it requires the developer of the application 128 to write and maintain custom code for the LDAP interface 126, which can be a time-consuming and in many cases, a non-trivial task because the inherent search characteristics of the LDAP interface is significantly different from the query and analysis nature of the SQL language.

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